


King in Exile

by jetsam



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 18:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetsam/pseuds/jetsam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With hindsight, it might have been a mistake to give out his mobile number at Nationals. Now that all that fuss is over (Teikou, again, and who didn’t see that coming?), Kiyoshi’s phone is buzzing every five minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	King in Exile

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Challenge #13 of bps - beyond the Generation of Miracles

With hindsight, it might have been a mistake to give out his mobile number at Nationals. Now that all that fuss is over (Teikou, again, and who didn’t see that coming?), Kiyoshi’s phone is buzzing every five minutes.

_Tecchan, I’ve been offered a scholarship to Rakuzan_

This would not be so bad if Hayama Kotaro actually slept.  Ever.

_Tecchan, Mibuchi is coming too_

Kiyoshi eventually puts it on silent and sorts through the backlog last thing every evening.  This does not endear him to his classmates at Shouei.

_Tecchan, it would be fun to play basketball with you._

Not that there are all that many friends that he plans to keep from Shouei.  He has dragged them kicking and screaming towards the top of the basketball world – but most of them were very happy to resign as soon as tradition permitted.

_Kiyoshi-kun, have you made your decision?  Nebuya._

He feels closer to the others in the same situation, even if they only see each other a few times a year.  They are always  _there_ , and there is a sense of shared suffering as well as shared goals that strikes a chord somehow.  Maybe this makes Kiyoshi a bit weird.  He doubts Hanamiya thinks like this.

_Tecchan – streetball at the weekend?_

The official recruiters leave messages for him at school.

_”Kiyoshi-kun, we would like to invite you to visit Rakuzan at your convenience.  Please give me a call, and I would be happy to arrange for you to tour our facilities and participate in a training session.”_

Rakuzan is the pinnacle of high school basketball, just as Teikou dominates the junior high competition.  Kiyoshi has been to a traditional basketball powerhouse, though, and it was disappointing.  There was a lot of superficial hard training but it felt like going through the motions. He ended up playing a lot of streetball at the weekends.

_”Kiyoshi-kun, having observed your play over the last three years, we would like to offer you a place at Shuutoku High. Please contact us should you require any further information.  We would be happy to meet with you to discuss the direction of the team and the training methodology.”_

No one laughed in practices at Shouei.

Kiyoshi’s former captain went to Ginbo High, and then didn’t make it out of the interhigh preliminaries.  He doesn’t call, or stop by to offer his advice. Shouei’s coach does hand him one handwritten message that came through in the post.

_Would you rather play with us or against us? Nijimura_

Kiyoshi laughs and finds a school where he will not be filling dead man’s shoes. Whatever Hayama thinks, he is not interested in being a substitute, and isn’t sure that he could beat Nebuya to the starting position as centre.  He doesn’t bother sending Nijimura a response – his name is eventually listed on the tournament roster, their finishing position an answer in itself.

It is almost no surprise when Teikou’s forgotten sixth man comes Seirin’s way.

_Tecchan?  You never replied to my text?  Where are you going?_


End file.
